The New England Patriots have apologised for a racist gaffe that has been dubbed "the worst bit of PR" by one fan.
To celebrate reaching one million Twitter followers, the Patriots were offering free jerseys to fans with their username on the back if they tweeted the club.
However, an automated system saw the club's official account respond to @IHATENNIGGERSS, along with an image of what the personalised shirt will look like.
The NFL franchise swiftly apologised for the error by tweeting: "We apologize for the regrettable tweet that went out from our account. Our filtering system failed & we will be more vigilant in the future."
The apology failed to stem the tide of critics, however, as fan Michael Noone tweeted: "New England Patriots here with possibly the worst bit of PR I've ever seen. Sack your twitter guy." ESPN host Michelle Beadle wrote: "Setting up a sweet automatic 'thank you' system when I hit a mil. "What could go wrong?"
We apologize for the regrettable tweet that went out from our account. Our filtering system failed & we will be more vigilant in the future.
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 14, 2014
The Patriots beat Denver Broncos 43-21 on Monday to take control of the American Football Conference.
